The invention relates to equipment adapted to drill a row of distanced-apart relatively shallow holes in the soil while travelling along at uniform speed, without stopping during drilling of each hole. The equipment is particularly useful in digging equidistant holes for planting of trees or erecting of fence posts.
The conventional equipment for drilling holes in the soil usually consists of a vehicle equipped with a vertical rotating earth-drill or auger attached to a boom which is adapted to lower and press the rotating drill into the soil and to pull it out of the drilled hole after its completion. The vehicle, preferably a tractor, is moved from hole to hole and has to remain in each place until the hole is completed, before moving to the next hole site. The drill is rotated by either hydraulic or mechanical transmission means operated by the tractor engine. The output of this kind of hole digger is between 40 to 100 holes per hour, under favorable circumstances.
It is, therefore, a main object of the invention to provide equipment capable of drilling hundreds of holes per hour while moving over the area at constant speed without stoppages.
It is another object of the invention to provide equipment for attachment to a tractor which should supply the power necessary for drilling the holes and simultaneously to pull the equipment across the field, or alternatively, to provide self-powered equipment to be drawn by any kind of traction vehicle capable of moving across agricultural land.
It is still another object to provide a drill that need not be lowered into the hole and to be lifted out after the operation, thereby saving considerable time and labor, and it is a final object to provide such equipment at reasonable cost.